Collaborative Design and Engineering With Ifc in The Netherlands

COLLABORATIVE DESIGN AND
ENGINEERING WITH IFC IN THE

NETHERLANDS
Data sharing ≠ collaboration | Léon van Berlo
COLLABORATIVE DESIGN
AND ENGINEERING WITH IFC
IN THE NETHERLANDS
Collaborative design and engineering with IFC in the Netherlands 08 April 2015
A DUTCH GUY IN MANCHESTER
AND THIS IS THE REFERENCE.….
SORRY FOR….
…bad English
…proverbs
…spelling errors in this presentation
…rude language
…sarcastic jokes (when in doubt: it was sarcasm)
…giving an opinion about the quality of your questions.…
…and all the other stuff (caravans, bicycles, other coaches, etc..)
But thanks for having me here!
NETHERLANDS ORGANISATION FOR
APPLIED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH TNO
Groningen
Leiden
Soesterberg
Zeist
Delft
Utrecht
Rijswijk
The Hague
Helmond
Eindhoven
INTERNATIONAL
OFFICES / AGENCIES
Offices
Agencies
Trends Transitions
THE POWER OF TNO
FROM IDEA TO INNOVATION
Trends Transitions
TNO IN NUMBERS 2013
Number of employees (effective average) 3.276

Consolidated turnover € 564 million
Trends Transitions
ON THE BIM SIDE…
Core team of 8 BIM experts (broad spectrum)

Second ring of 10 – 15 part time BIM related experts
Additional special departments for energy, health, safety, etc.
Great BIM track record:

First reference of ‘BIM’ in publication (1992)
BIM Handbook in 1988 (!)
Worked on IFC since beginning
Involved on several levels
at BuildingSMART
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Architects?
Engineers?
Contractors?
BIM Managers?
Policy makers?
Modellers?
Managers?
Are you ready for controversial statements?
START WITH THE CONCLUSIONS:
Collaboration is not the same as data sharing

You need to know what (and how) you / the other person need(s)
Domain models are the master models
It is not about a theoretical perfect BIM
LET’S START AT THE BEGINNING…..
1998 (?)
“SHARED DATA MODEL”
shared
data
model
COMMON MISCONCEPTION:
Shared data model is NOT equal to:

Shared data(base)
Shared BIM model instance
Shared data model comes from the need to share/distribute data in a

standardized way…. “let’s agree this is a door”
shared data model == creating agreements (interoperability)

BIM DATA FLOW THROUGH STANDARDS:
REDUCING INTERFACES
YES, I’VE SEEN THE PICTURES…
2008: BIMSERVER.ORG
2009: 1ST RELEASE
2010/11: NATIONAL BIMSERVER PILOT
2012: REPORT
THE PILOT / RESEARCH
Look at how information flows in a project
Look at how which tools are used
Research: compare ‘homogeneous’ software with ‘own choice’ software
26
“THERE IS NO CENTRAL MODEL”
(IN A PROJECT)
DENMARK 2006:
DENMARK 2008:
30
31
NL 2012:
NO ROUNDTRIP
(import/export in a chain of tools)
OBSERVATIONS:
“There is no loss of data using IFC”… It is all in the native software. The
question is what data you want to share (using IFC). What data do you need
to do your job? Then we look if that is in IFC (and in your tool after import)
Not a single IFC ‘loss of data’-issue occurred during the experiments.
In a homogeneous software environment, users felt that all team members

should have equal BIM software modeling expertise. When using the
concept of reference models, not all project team members collaborating in a
project need to have the same level of BIM expertise.
34
AND TO CLOSE UP….
The use of a reference model concept with IFC can lower the needed BIM
competences for a project partner to be able to collaborate in a way that is
sufficiently effective for the entire project team.
All respondents in this experiment were strongly convinced that choosing

project partners based on their competence of a specific software tool,
prior to their engineering competence, is never preferred
35
FOUND CONCLUSION:
WORKING (LIVE) IN A ‘CENTRAL’

MODELSERVER HAS MORE
DOWNSIDES THAN ADVANTAGES.
(OWNERSHIP OF OBJECTS, LEGAL ASPECTS,

BIM MANAGER, CHANGE REQUESTS, ETC...)
36
BIMSERVER TODAY:
IN THE MEANTIME….
STATE OF BIM COLLABORATION IN 2015
Working with ‘Reference model concept’ is the norm

Main input for BuildingSMART International IFC4 Referenceview MVD
Working with IFC is like sliced bread
Reference model concept is integral part of National BIM Guidelines
IFC usage and understanding has rapidly grown
Making a BIM is not the goal
Collaboration is seen as something else than just sharing data!
“A CENTRAL DATASTORE
STIMULATES WRONG BEHAVIOUR”
EVERYONE BRINGS THEIR
CRAFTSMANSHIP AND EXPERTISE
TO ACTUALLY COLLABORATE
THE REAL QUESTIONS ARE:
- WHAT DO I NEED TO DO MY JOB?
- WHAT DO OTHERS NEED FROM ME TO DO THEIRS?
SOME EXAMPLES
EXAMPLE: SEVERAL MODELING TOOLS
Several modelling tools used

All sharing parts of the model as IFC
Quality checks
Filtering objects to create a new view
For good coordination you still need to know who created what object
So even in a single database you still have separate models….
EXAMPLE: CONTRACTOR USING
SUPPLIER MODELS
Architectural and Construction model as a base
Suppliers deliver IFC models to replace original model parts
This is an animation in the original presentation…
Want it? E-mail me on leon.vanberlo@tno.nl
EXAMPLE:
COMPARE DESIGN / ENGINEERING
Contractor and lime stone supplier
Comparing models
EXAMPLE: 3 IFC EXPORTS FROM 1 MODEL
Because that is what collaboration is about!
IFC Coordination view
IFC 2nd order space boundaries
IFC explicit geometry

EXAMPLE: VOIDS
Exchange openings
Openings are not a lack of data; they are there. Some people need them.
This is an animation in the original presentation…
Want it? E-mail me on leon.vanberlo@tno.nl
IN THE MEANWHILE.….
BIMIE
NATIONAL BIM GUIDELINES
Written by the sector (“this is how we do it”)

Coordinated by independent organisations
Only extensively proven content (no experiments or innovations)
Series of topics
Coming from the industry itself
Each with own writing team
Each with own release date
All using same terminology
All aligned with each other
bimguidelines.nl
2013/14/15: NATIONAL BIM GUIDELINES
http://nationaalbimhandboek.nl/onderwerpen/werken-met-disciplinemodellen/
coordinate
conclude
model
communicate
coordinate
conclude
model
communicate
HOW TO GET THE DATA FLOWING…..
BIM EXECUTION PLANS / PROTOCOLS
DO NOT WORK
THE REAL QUESTIONS ARE:
- WHAT DO I NEED TO DO MY JOB?
- WHAT DO OTHERS NEED FROM ME TO DO THEIRS?
2014: BIM PROTOCOL GENERATOR
http://bimprotocolgenerator.com/
BIM PROTOCOL GENERATOR
Ask others about their preferred way of working
What data do you need to do your job?

How do you want it?
What tools do you use? And what data structures?
Protocol generator merges the answers to a concept protocol.

Team discusses the issues and transforms it to final protocol.
“Protocol generator is a team building machine”
COLLABORATION: FORGET ABOUT
THE BLACK BOX!
BEWARE OF THE GATEKEEPER
Léon van Berlo

Bouw Informatie Modellering
HE DOES NOT DO THE WORK…
Léon van Berlo

Bouw Informatie Modellering
LESSONS LEARNED
Don’t fight fragmentation; embrace it
Domain/discipline models are the master models

Collaboration is not the same as data sharing
You need to know what (and how) the other person needs
You need to know what yóu need from others
It is not about a theoretical perfect BIM
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
LEON.VANBERLO@TNO.NL
OTHER SOURCES….
BIM Quality Blocks www.bimqualityblocks.com
BIM Quickscan www.bimquickscan.nl
BIM terminology dictionary

www.nationaalbimhandboek.nl
National BIM Definitions
BIM Automation (suppliers & simulations) leon.vanberlo@tno.nl
Leon.vanBerlo@tno.nl - https://nl.linkedin.com/in/leonvanberlo

Collaborative Design and Engineering With Ifc in The Netherlands

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Collaborative Design and Engineering With Ifc in The Netherlands

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

COLLABORATIVE DESIGN AND

ENGINEERING WITH IFC IN THE

AND THIS IS THE REFERENCE.….

But thanks for having me here!

Number of employees (effective average) 3.276

Core team of 8 BIM experts (broad spectrum)

Great BIM track record:

Are you ready for controversial statements?

Collaboration is not the same as data sharing

“SHARED DATA MODEL”

Shared data model is NOT equal to:

Shared data model comes from the need to share/distribute data in a

shared data model == creating agreements (interoperability)

Look at how information flows in a project

Look at how which tools are used

Research: compare ‘homogeneous’ software with ‘own choice’ software

In a homogeneous software environment, users felt that all team members

All respondents in this experiment were strongly convinced that choosing

WORKING (LIVE) IN A ‘CENTRAL’

(OWNERSHIP OF OBJECTS, LEGAL ASPECTS,

Working with ‘Reference model concept’ is the norm

Making a BIM is not the goal

Collaboration is seen as something else than just sharing data!

Several modelling tools used

Architectural and Construction model as a base

Suppliers deliver IFC models to replace original model parts

Contractor and lime stone supplier

Because that is what collaboration is about!

IFC 2nd order space boundaries

IFC explicit geometry

Written by the sector (“this is how we do it”)

Ask others about their preferred way of working

What data do you need to do your job?

Protocol generator merges the answers to a concept protocol.

“Protocol generator is a team building machine”

Léon van Berlo

Léon van Berlo

Don’t fight fragmentation; embrace it

Domain/discipline models are the master models

It is not about a theoretical perfect BIM

BIM Quality Blocks www.bimqualityblocks.com

BIM Quickscan www.bimquickscan.nl

BIM terminology dictionary

BIM Automation (suppliers & simulations) leon.vanberlo@tno.nl

You might also like